Tis the season for barbecuing with friends.  It's becoming a bit of a tradition to head over to our friends' place for the fourth.

In keeping with the theme, I like to do a red, white, and blue dessert for the evening.  Last year we had massacre in a snowstorm, which looks more festive than it sounds (the name came from a similar dessert by Nigella Lawson).  This year we will be trying raspberry sorbet and blueberry sorbet that will be served with whipped cream.

happy weekend!

raspberry sorbet

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 pints fresh raspberries

juice of one lemon

In small saucepan, bring water and sugar to boil.  Stir to dissolve sugar.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.  Transfer syrup to bowl and stir in vanilla.  Chill syrup for 15 minutes.

Puree raspberries, syrup, and lemon juice in blender.  Strain mixture through sieve, discarding seeds.  Chill sorbet base overnight.  Freeze according to ice cream maker's directions until slushy.  Transfer sorbet to container and freeze completely.

blueberry sorbet

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

3 pints fresh blueberries

juice of one lemon

Follow directions as seen in above recipe.

I'm not sure about this recipe for blueberry muffins from the hummingbird bakery cookbook.  The first time I made it, they turned out like this-

They said it made 12.  It makes 24, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but just seems like a big difference.  When I told lulu I was making blueberry muffins she asked that I make them "not flat" again.  They weren't flat, but they still weren't right.

Nice, but did I forget to put the blueberries in?

No, but, every single one of them sunk to the bottom.  The up side is that cj wanted no part of the blueberries, so he and lulu split them in half.  He could have the top and she could have the bottom.

I'm sticking with this recipe.